Curtain-fixture.



PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

J A. LYONS. CURTAIN FIXTURE.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 29. 1902.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

I J. A. LYONS.

CURTAIN FIXTURE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29, 1902. no MODEL. 2ZSHBET8-SHEET 2.

Wiigesses W -P% A UNITED STATES.

Tatented September 29 1903.

JAMES A. LYONS, ,OF FOUNTAIN orrY, TENNESSEE.

CURTAIN-FIXTURE. I

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 739,890, dated September 29, 1903.

Application filed August 29, 1902. Serial No. 121.451. (N0 model.)

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES A. LYONS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fountain City, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Curtain-Fixtures, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to window-curtain fixtures, and particularly to that class of window-curtain fixtures in which provision is made for the vertical adjustment of a horizontal spring-actuated roller upon which the curtain or shade isrolled, the object being to secure light and ventilation from above the curtain when desired.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation-of a fixture embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan of a blank from which one of the yokebrackets is formed. Fig. 4 is a plan of one of said brackets. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of said brackets. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the right-hand upper bracket. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of said bracket. Figs. 8 and 9 are detail views of the combined screw-eye and hook used for securing the guide-cord and for guiding the pull-cord. Figs. 10 and 11 are detail views illustrating the manner of attaching .the straps to the upper roller.

Referring to said drawings, 1 is the upper roller, and 10 is the lower or shiftable roller. The latter supports the shade or curtain. (Not shown in the drawings.) Both said rollers are of the common spring-actuated type. At each end the roller 1 is supported in a bracket 2, having its feet 2 attached to the window-casing A in the usual manner. The upper end of .the foot of each of said brackets is preferably turned outward and upward and provided with a V-shaped notch 2. A guide-cord 4 is located at each side of the window and secured by its upper end in such notch, said end of the cord being knotted and the knot placed above the foot, the V-shaped notch being so narrow as to prevent the drawing of the knot downward. Each such cord.

passes downward over the face of the window-casing, the left-hand cord being secured at its lower end in a hook 5 and the lower end cord lies.

of the right-hand cord being secured in the hook 6 of the combined screw-eye and hook 6. Said cords may be secured to said hooks in any suitable manner. A simple method is to tie knots into the cord in such position as to be engaged by the book when the cord lies in the hook and is under the desired tension, the book being narrower than the thickness of the knot. Said cords serve as vertical guides for the shiftable roller 10.

The combined screw-eye and hook 6 is composed of the eye 6 and the hook 6 Said eye stands in a horizontal plane or in a plane crossing the line in which the adjacent guide- The hook 6" is directed upward toward the upper attachment of said guidecord, and, as above stated, said hook is preferably narrower than the thickness of a knot in said guide-cord in-order that such a knot may be made a means of engaging said hook. The eye 6 has a twofold function-first, to serve as a means of engagement for turning the screw into the Window-casing, and, sec- .ond, as a guide for the pull-cord, as hereinafter described.

Straps or cords 3 3are attached by their upper ends to the roller 1 and are adapted to be rolled and unrolled by the rotation of said roller. A yoke 11 is secured to the lower endsof the straps'or cords 3. The drawings show said straps or cords extending around said yoke and having the end joined to the main part of the strap or cord by means of a buckle 3".

Staples 11? extend around the strap 3 on the yoke 11 and prevent lateral movement of the straps on the yoke. By raising-and lowering the buckles 3 a precise adjustment of the yoke may be effected. The brackets 11 support the roller 10 in the usual manner. Said brackets are preferably formed of sheet metal. Fig. 3 shows a sheet-metal blank from which the right-hand bracket is formed. The blank for the left-hand bracket is the same, excepting that it has a slotted aper ture for the flat bar of the roller where the right-hand bracket has the round aperture. The part 0. forms the foot of the bracket, and the part 11 forms the portion extending across the end of the roller. The part 11 folds around the bar of the yoke, as clearly shown by the drawings. An eye-pin 11 extends through the sleeve 11 formed by the folding of the part 11 of the blank, and through the bar of the yoke lying within said sleeve. Said pin serves to secure said sleeve upon said bar. It also serves to secure the yoke slidably upon the adjacent cord 4, for said cord passes through the eye 11 of said pin. Upon the left-hand bracket the outer end of said pin is bent rearward to bear upon said sleeve. In the right-hand bracket the upper end of said pin is raised sufficiently to permit attachment of the pull-cord 12.

The weight of the roller 10 and the curtain thereto attached tilts the upper portion of the bracket forward, whereby the avoidance of contact between the rear portion of said pin 11 and the window-easing is made certain. Thus the cord 4 alone makes contact with the bracket as the latter moves up and down, and scratching of the window-casing is prevented. To reduce friction, the lower end of the-bracket-foot is curved outward, as shown in the drawings.

To the right-hand bracket 2 of the upper roller there is applied a spring-hook 2. In the form shown this is made by bending spring-wire and securing the ends to said bracket. Said hook is extended downward and toward the window-casing sufficiently to permit the yoke 11 to pass upward above said hook only by pushing said hook outward. \Vhenso constructed, the hook reaches beneath said yoke when the latter is at its upper limit, whereby said yoke and the shiftable roller are held against downward movement until said hook is disengaged by being pushed outward away from the window-casing. This is accomplished by means of the hinged stirrup 12 on the yoke. Said stirrup consists of a wire extending parallel to the adjacent sleeve 11 and having its ends intnrned and extending into said sleeve and the bar of the yoke, as shown by the drawings, whereby said stirrup is hinged. The relative arrangement and dimensions of these parts are such as to leave said stirrup and said spring-hook out of engagement when said stirrup is free to turn toward the window-casing, but to cause said stirrup to engage and lift said spring-hook when said stirrup is rotated away from the window-casing. The pull-cord 12 and said stirrup are arranged in such relation as to cause said pullcord to lift said stirrup when said cord is pulled for the purpose of drawing the yoke and shiftable roller downward. As shown in the drawings, the pull-cord is attached to the upper portion of the eye-pin 11 and extends thence downward over the front face of the yoke and thence rearward through the stirrup 12 and thence downward through the eye of the combined screw-eye and hook 6. It will be readily seen that drawing said pullcord will tend to straighten said cord, Whereby said stirrup is thrown forward. If the spring-hook is then resting against said stirrup, it will be lifted by the latter. When the spring-hook has thus been lifted, the yoke is free to descend by continued pulling on the pull-cord.

It is not essential to pass the pull-cord through the eye at 6; but it is a matter of convenience to insure a definite direction of movement for said cord.

On the right-hand end of the roller 1 is located a locking-lug l, the function of which is to prevent the rotation of the roller 1 so long as the right-hand end of the yoke-bar is in its upper position. Said locking-lug is so placed as to bear upon the upper face of the yoke when the latter is at its upper limit. The purpose of this lug is to prevent the descent of the left-hand portion of the yoke and shiftable roller (when draft is put upon the curtain to unroll the latter from the shiftable roller) while the right-hand portion of said yoke and roller are held by the spring-hook 2. It will be observed that the left-hand portion of said yoke cannot descend without drawing down the left-hand strap 3, and the latter cannot be drawn down without rotating the roller 1, and, as already explained, the roller 1 is locked against rotation by the bearing of the locking-lug 1 upon the upper face of the yoke. With this construction a lighter spring may be used in the upper roller.

I have found it desirable to so attach the straps 3 to the upper roller as to prevent them from being torn off. An effective method is illustrated byliigs. 10 and 11. The upper end of the strap is passed through an elongated metallic eye and laid over upon itself and secured to the roller by a tack 3. From said tack this strap passes around theroller and again through said eye and thence downward to the yoke. It will be observed that the strap can unroll only as far as said eye, and when it has unrolled that far the draft is upon the eye and the strain is resisted by the friction of the strap on the eye and around the roller and again on the eye and again upon a portion of the exterior of the roller.

Within the sleeve 11 the lower face of the yoke-bar should be suitably channeled to make a bearing for the inturned ends of the stirrup 12, and provision should be made for limiting the upward movement of said stirrup in order that said stirrup may never rise so high as to allow the spring-hook to enter beneath said stirrup while 'the yoke is moving upward. For this purpose some suitable stop should be provided upon the yoke. This may be conveniently accomplished by cutting out the sleeve to only a limited extent at the point 12 Fig. 3, where the left-hand inturned end of the stirrup extends into said sleeve.

I claim as my invention 1. In a curtain fixture, the combination with a stationary roller, a shiftable roller, a yoke supporting said shiftable roller and straps uniting said yoke and said stationary roller, of means for locking said yoke in its upper position and means supported by said stationary roller for engaging said yoke and locking said upper roller against rotation while said yoke is at its upper limit.

2. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a stationary roller, a shiftableroller, a yoke supporting said shiftable roller, straps uniting said yoke and said stationary roller, of a lug on said upper roller adapted to bear against said yoke while the latter is at its upper limit.

3. In a curtain-fixture, the combinatio with a stationary roller, a shiftable roller, a yoke supporting said shiftable roller, straps uniting said yoke and said stationary roller, of a spring-hook for engaging said yoke while the latter is at its upper limit and a lug on said upper roller arranged to bear upon said yoke while the latter is at its upper limit.

4:. In a curtainfixture, the combination with an upper stationary roller, a lower shiftable roller, a yoke supporting said shiftable roller, and straps connecting said yoke and the upper roller, of a spring-hook, 2, located adjacent to the upper roller, a stirrup, 12*, applied to said yoke, and a pull-cord applied to said yoke and stirrup;

-5. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with an upper stationary roller, a lower shiftable roller, a yoke supporting said shi-ftable roller, andstraps connecting said yoke and the upper roller, of a spring-hook, 2, located adjacent to the upper roller, a stirrup, 12*,

.applied to said yoke, a pull-cord applied to said yoke and stirrup, and means for locking said upper roller against rotation while said yoke is at its upper limit.

6. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of a yoke, 11, sleeve, 11 and stirrup, 12, having inturned ends extending into said sleeve.

7'. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of a yoke, 11, sleeves, 11 eye-pins, 11, and guide-cords, 4, extending through the eyes of said eye-pins. l

8. 'In a curtain-fixture, the combination of an upper roller, brackets for supporting said roller, said brackets having feet, the upper ends of which are outwardly turned and notched, guide-cords secured by their upper ends in said notches and by their lower ends to a fastening device supported from the window-casing. I

9. In a curtain -fixture, the combination with a vertically-shiftable yoke and curtainroller supported by said yoke, a. guide-cord for guiding said roller, and means for securing the upper end of said cord, of a combined screw-eye and hook, the eye of said combined screw-eye and hook being in a plane parallel with the screw-shank and in a plane to which said cord is perpendicular, and said hook being directed upward and engaging said cord, and a pull-cord applied to said yoke and extending through said eye.

10. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of an upper stationary roller, a lower shiftable roller, a yoke for supporting said shiftable roller, straps extending from said yoke upward and through elongated eyes adjacent to the upper roller, thence around said upper roller and again through said elongated eye and backward along said strap, and thereterminating, said terminating portion being suitably secured. a I

11. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with an upper stationary roller, a lower shiftable roller, a yoke supporting said shiftable roller, and straps connecting said yoke and the upper roller, of a spring-hook, 2, located adjacent to the upper roller, a stirrup, 12, applied to said y'oke by a hinge "permitting limited movement, and a pull-cord applied to said yoke and stirrup.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 25th .day of August, in the year 1902.-

JAMES A. LYoNs'.

Witnesses:

OYRUs KEHR,' R. F. (Ross. 

